The Best Time To Exercise

Experience shows our body burns more fat when we workout before breakfast. Though it hasn’t been confirmed by studies.

A lot of people knows the benefit of exercising regularly, but it can be difficult to fit exercise into our busy schedules. Most people can only exercise before or after work, so it is necessary we put into consideration the time of day we exercise. We should know if it affects outcomes such as weight loss and sleep.

To understand why the timing of exercise might be important, we first need to understand how our bodies function and respond over a 24-hour day. Clock works with nature and it helps to regulate sleep patterns, when we eat, blood pressure and body temperature. These “circadian rhythms” have been associated with many aspects of physical performance, health and well-being.

In terms of performing a consistent exercise habit, it’s tempting to think morning exercise is more sustainable as it’s “out of the way” before other time pressures may interfere. But there isn’t much evidence to support this theory. Instead, it may just come down to what your preferred time to train is.

A study investigating the relationship between circadian preference and sport found athletes tend to select sports with training times that suit their individual preference. So “morning people” were more likely to select sports such as cycling, which has regular morning training.

Exercising on an empty stomach is different, physiologically, from exercising after a meal. After an overnight fast, our bodies are reliant on fat as its primary fuel source, so if you exercise in the morning, before eating breakfast, you will essentially burn more fat. You feel smarter when workout in fasted state.

Burning more fat during exercise may have a metabolic advantage, but does that make a difference to fat loss over a period of time? Unfortunately, it’s unlikely. Research examined the difference between exercising in a fasted state, compared with after food, for four weeks. While both groups lost fat mass, there was no difference in the amount of fat lost between fasted and fed exercise.

Researchers investigating the impact of six weeks of morning versus evening exercise on energy intake and weight loss found those who exercised in the morning ate less throughout the day, and subsequently, lost 1kg more than those in the evening group.

But some researchers have also found we work harder in the evening. Conceivably, if we are working harder in the evening, over time, we will expend more energy, potentially leading to greater weight loss than with morning exercise. Exercise increases how awake we feel and raises our core temperature, which, in theory, is contrary to the “optimal” conditions to elicit feelings of sleepiness.

Exercise increases how awake we feel and raises our core temperature, which, in theory, is contrary to the “optimal” conditions to elicit feelings of sleepiness. Though some recommendations had shown to have discouraged exercising within four hours of bedtime, but there’s still a growing body of evidence to support evening exercise.

Push-up

Exercising—Relaxing—Sleeping has alot of health beneficts. Look young and velvety.